She Did It Again
by Lilylulu
Summary: Cappie's POV after the Casey and Cappie break up with an eventual C/C reunion.
1. Chapter 1

She did it again. Casey Cartwright broke my heart yet again. You would think I would learn from all the times before; breaking up with me freshman year and running to Evan, leaving my room after hooking up junior year just to go back to Evan, and toiling with me, claiming she was in love with Max and I meant nothing to her. Sure things haven't been the smoothest between us lately. But after mom and dad came into town things seemed to have gotten better. With this renewed sense of togetherness and love I finally got the nerve to lavalier her. And then she rejected me. Well, basically. I guess I didn't give her much of a chance to plead her case when I lost all control of my emotions and yelled at her. Yeah, I probably shouldn't have done that. But I was so mad and upset….and hurt. It was like her plan was just to string me along until graduation and then break up with me because magically she doesn't see us working in the future. What in the hell ever happened to soul mates? Is there even such a thing as love?

The questions were going crazy through my head as I walked down the pier and away from Casey. I knew she was crying but hell, I was on the verge of tears too. How can she expect me to just go from having nothing of my future planned out to having everything written down on a nicely crisp piece of paper for everyone to see? The only thing I know, wait, _knew_, about my future was that I wanted her to be in it. But now that's not going to happen.

I'm still in shock that the two of us actually broke up. It probably couldn't have happened at a worse time. First, it's her birthday. Go ahead, I know; I'm sure I'm the top nominee for the 'douche bag of the year' award now. And second, it's only the 2nd day of spring break. So here I am wandering the beach, nowhere to go, no friend to talk to and most importantly I guess, no girlfriend. Once I was able to calm down a little the first thing that popped in my head was where I was going to sleep for the night. Casey and I were sharing a room and it would be more than awkward if I showed back up there and we ran into each other. Maybe I'll just sleep on the beach in the sand. I'm sure there will be other passed out, drunken kids right along with me. Maybe there will even be another guy who just had his heart ripped out and stomped on by the love of his life.

I guess I will take anyone to talk to at this point. Well, anyone not close to our situation. Gosh, how on earth am I going to tell Rusty? He was probably more excited about me lavaliering Casey than I was. I guess it was my mistake for telling my frat brothers. I probably should have kept things quieter. I'm sure they are all waiting for me back at Tijuana Tony's to walk in arm and arm with Casey and her wearing my letters. Sorry guys, not going to happen tonight. I wonder if it's even possible to avoid everyone until we go back to Cyprus…..yeah, probably not. Well I guess I could always take a bus back home like Rusty did last year but running away from my problems is not the very 'grown up' thing to do at this point.

Growing up. God, those are just two of the ugliest words for me. All the older people I've talked to; my parents, Mr. Hilgendorf, they all say to stay as young as you can for as long as you can. Why would anyone want to grow up and be old and boring? Sure I'm not going to stay in college forever, however I do hear there is such a thing as a 'professional student'. Nah, that's not me. I do want to grow up….eventually. People stay in college for five and six years all of the time because they don't know what they want to do with their lives. What is so wrong with me being that type of person?

I respect Casey and her decision to go to GW. It's something that she has to do for herself and I'm not going to stop her. But what is so wrong with a long distance relationship? It's only a seven hour car ride and an hour and fifteen minute flight from Ohio to Washington DC. Yes, I looked it up because there has always been a real possibility of Casey going to DC for a job or law school. And it's not like I couldn't afford to fly and see her every couple of weeks with my grandpa's inheritance money. Who knows, maybe even doing the long distance thing would make one of us realize that we do need to change for the other. Maybe I'll hate being away from her and am forced to grow up to be with her.

But I guess that doesn't matter anyway. Casey and I are done. This time I feel like my heart is broken beyond repair. This is exactly the reason I didn't get together with Casey at the End of the World party. I told her I was a childish and lazy frat boy who let her down before. But thinking about being with her, getting the chance to love her again, kiss her again, make love to her again made me get off that roof and go after her. But then there was my conversation with Evan. And he just confirmed all the thoughts I was having before; Casey thinks about the future, why would I want to go through all of that again? So I didn't go after her and despite all that the two of us remained friends.

Sure there has always been that undeniable chemistry between Casey and me, even when we weren't together. Actually, if you ask me, I think that chemistry faded a little bit after we got back together this time. Of course it was still there, but I think it was masked by all the differences and arguing the two of us were having. And what about love? Gosh, I've always loved Casey and to be honest I'll probably still love her until the day I die. There is just something too powerful and magical about our love. Maybe it's because we are each other's first loves. I don't know. Casey said she loved me when I tried to give her my letters but I wasn't really feeling that love much once she started talking about us only being a college thing. A college thing. The phrase does make me chuckle just a little bit. Who in their right mind puts a time line on a relationship? And why would Casey want to stay with me knowing that things are going to end once she graduates?

I finally got to the point where I was done with questions. My head is spinning and hurting even more than it was when I walked away from Casey. I could sit here and analyze every little piece of our relationship and it still wouldn't make a difference. Casey and I are broken up; there is no more Casey and Cappie.

I finally found a spot in the sand that wasn't covered with shells to sit down. Surprisingly the beach was very calm and quiet. The waves gently crashed against the shore and for a moment I was able to just take a deep breath and take in the surroundings. And then I started to think about how I was supposed to be here with Casey. She was supposed to be sitting next to me with my arms wrapped around her tightly and my letters around her neck. It was at that moment I finally let a single tear escape my eye. But that single tear turned into several others and I was just about to bury my head in my arms and cry myself to sleep when someone tapped me on my shoulder.

"Dale? What are you doing here?" I asked as I turned to look at him and quickly wipe the tears off my face. I was trying to sound confident and not shaken up but I was sure he could see right through me.

"Rusty and Dana told me to get lost for a little bit so they could save some money," he replied.

I shot him a confused look.

He leaned down close to me and whispered "Sex."

"Oh," was all I replied nodding my head.

Dale took it upon himself to sit down next to me in the sand. At first nothing was said between the two of us. He obviously knew I was upset but I think he didn't really know how to approach the subject. We just sat there staring out into the ocean running our hands through the sand underneath us.

"Well Cap, I guess I'll just come right out and say it," he finally said. "You look like you've been through hell."

"That's an understatement," I replied again burying my head in my arms.

"Is it our woman in common?" he asked.

"I guess, if you want to put it that way," I replied lifting my head back up and looking back out into the ocean.

"You know Cap, I may call Casey our woman in common but I know you two are in it for the long run," he said with a sort of sincerity in his voice I had never heard before. "You are hers and she is yours. But just know that if you ever hurt her you will have me to deal with."

"Well too late for that after tonight Daley," I replied avoiding any eye contact with him.

"Did you guys get into a fight?" he asked.

I didn't respond. I felt like if I was going to tell the whole story over again I was going to start crying….again. And there was no way I was going to cry in front of Dale. Just not going to happen.

"Well, I'm not sure how much help I'm going to be since I've never really been in a relationship other than with Sheila," he began. "But I'm sure you guys can get past this."

"Casey and I broke up tonight," I blurted out, still continuing to avoid any eye contact with him.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that Cap," he said after a brief silence.

And then like my mouth couldn't hold the words in anymore, I began to spill everything to Dale.

"I tried to give Casey my fraternity letters tonight Dale," I began. "I was giving them to her to show her that I felt the two of us had a future together. I could honestly see the two of us married at some point down the road. But then she began talking about our different life paths. She's going to Washington DC for law school, I'm staying at CRU. Neither of us wants to change our plans for the other. So that just leaves us stuck then. It's like we're treading water and going nowhere. She made the comment that the two of us should just stay together until the end of the semester and that's when I lost it. If she doesn't have any faith in the future of the relationship then why should I?"

"I know exactly how you feel Cap," Dale replied. "Sheila and I experienced the same thing. She wanted to have sex, I didn't. I proposed to her, she rejected me. She—"

"Wait, you proposed to her?" I asked finally making eye contact with him over the genuine shock I was feeling at the moment.

"Well yeah, it was only appropriate given the sin her and I committed," he replied. "But that's beside the point. What I'm trying to tell you is that I changed for Sheila. She wanted to have sex and I finally gave in to her and disregarded any of the beliefs I had before. And that ended up being the biggest mistake of my entire life."

"So you think I'm right in not wanting to change for Casey?" I asked.

"Just the opposite," he replied. "Right now you are sitting here in the same situation I was last semester, only you haven't changed anything for her. Think about where you are right now Cap. You're sitting on the beach trying your hardest not to cry without the most important person in your life."

"You're kind of confusing me Dale," I said, not exactly sure where he was going with this conversation.

"Cap, I was wrong for changing for Sheila because the two of us weren't in love. There was no emotional connection there, everything was purely physical. I'm pretty sure I had more emotional feelings for her than she did for me. You and Casey, you guys have that emotional connection. You're in love."

"Well I thought I was in love Dale," I said cutting him off and returning my gaze out into the ocean.

"Oh stop with the poppy cock," he replied and I tried my hardest not to laugh. Who on earth says poppy cock anymore? "You wouldn't be sitting here with this much hurt and pain written all over your face if you didn't love her."

He paused but I didn't say anything. He was right but I was having a hard time admitting it.

"Cap, nobody is expecting you to graduate in a month," he continued. "Not even Casey."

"I appreciate your opinion Dale but you have no idea how Casey is feeling at this point," I said somewhat bitterly.

"Actually I had a brief conversation with our woman in common before finding you here on the beach," he replied.

And then I looked over at him again. How could he not mention this from the moment he sat down next to me?

"Don't get mad at me or anything," he said raising his hands in the air. "I just think it's silly that you're both off crying about something that could be resolved if you just talk things out with each other."

"Well we tried to talk and look where it got us Dale," I replied. "She just doesn't want to listen to me."

"Have you ever thought you're not listening to her either?" he snapped back.

I just continued to glare at him, not knowing how to respond to his question, whether it was rhetorical or not.

"Look, you two are free to do whatever you want. I can't make you guys talk or get back together or whatever. All I can do is give you my honest advice as a friend and someone who really cares about Casey. She's still crying over there under the pier if you decide you want to try again."

And without another word Dale got up and walked off. I avoided my gaze towards the pier for several minutes, not really sure what I wanted to do. Casey and I would have to talk again eventually but had I calmed down enough to continue our conversation we had earlier this evening?

I finally mustered enough guts to turn and look towards the pier. All I could see was the back of her blue swimsuit cover-up. I could tell she was still crying as her shoulders were bouncing up and down ever so slightly.

And then it was like my body completely detached itself from my brain. Without even thinking about it I was standing and walking towards the pier. I had no idea what I was going to say or do. But with my heart obviously leading the way I was nearing closer and closer to her. No time like the present I guess.

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_**A/N: So I'm sure most C/C fans were highly disappointed in the finale earlier this week as I was. So I thought I would write a little fic about it. There will be one other chapter posted in the next few days. Hope you guys like it!**_


	2. Chapter 2

Casey was sitting on one of the rocks under the pier. Once I got a couple of feet from her I kind of froze. It was like my mind finally caught up with my body. I had no idea what I was going to say. Was Dale right? Was I not listening to Casey? I guess in the situation there is a lot both of us need to say and it doesn't work out so well when we're both trying to get our point across at the same time. It makes me laugh to think how different we are as people but the same when it comes to our opinions and stubbornness. I guess neither of us was letting the other really talk and that is where the problem came to light. So I decided that this time I was going to listen….really listen to what Casey has to say. And I can only hope that she can give me the same and listen and understand what is going on in my mind too.

I didn't want to tap her on the back and startle her. I wasn't sure if she knew how close I had gotten to her or not. So I walked in front of her and sat on a rock directly across for her. She still had her head buried in her arms so she didn't notice me at first. But it was only a matter of time before she sensed someone's presence in front of her and she looked up at me.

"Hey," she said, barely audible as she wiped the tears off of her face. I could tell she was a little surprised to see me sitting in front of her but she tried her hardest not to show it.

"Hey," I replied, giving her a weak smile. At that point in time I didn't know of anything else to say. How do you start a conversation with the love of your life after you just broke up with her?

"What are you doing here?" she finally asked, shifting her gaze away from me and out into the ocean.

"Same reason you're here," I replied. "Afraid to go back to the room that we're supposed to be sharing and still shocked about what just transpired between the two of us."

"Why are you shocked?" she asked, again wiping a tear off of her cheek. "You're the one who broke up with me."

"How can I not be shocked?" I asked, raising my voice a little bit but quickly lowering it before I continued. "I went from pretty much telling you I want to be committed to you and only you to breaking up with you. What happened tonight was not supposed to happen."

"Well it's not like I planned it or anything," she replied rolling her eyes. "The whole thing is still honestly a blur to me. I don't even remember when things started to go wrong."

"Things went wrong as soon as I saw your reaction to me giving you my letters," I replied, trying not to sound hurt and bitter but I knew she could hear it in my voice.

"Look Cap, if we're just going to sit here and get into another argument then I suggest you leave because I really don't have the strength to do it all over again," she stated.

"I don't either."

"Well what are you doing here then?" she asked in a choked up voice. I could tell she was on the verge of tears again.

"I'm here to listen," I replied.

She scrunched her eyebrows together and finally made eye contact with me. We stared at each other for several seconds. I could still see the tears lingering in her eyes and I assumed she was trying with everything she had to keep them falling.

"I want to know what you are thinking about all this," I finally said. "Am I anywhere in those future plans of yours?"

"Of course you are," she replied. "I'm just not sure if it's something that the two of us have now or are going to have to wait a few years to have down the road."

"I'm sorry Case," I said. "But if we can't make the two of us work now, what is going to be so different in the future?"

"Maybe you'll have a future then, maybe you'll finally grow up," she replied.

I gave her a hurtful look. Why does she always think I'm not grown up enough for her?

"Case, just because I don't have an exact plan for the future doesn't mean I'm not grown up," I stated. "I'm president of my fraternity, I get decent grades and I have been nothing but faithful to you since the day that I met you. I feel like you overlook these things because you're so concerned with career paths and graduation."

"I guess I just can't understand why those things aren't important to you," she replied. "Graduation and my career are all I've been thinking about the past couple of months."

"They just aren't that important to me right now," I said softly. "Right now I'm comfortable where I'm at and I don't want to leave."

"What do you mean by that?" she asked.

I took a deep breath and looked right at her. She had returned her gaze back to the water which was continuing to crash softly against the shore. I waited until she finally looked over at me. We made eye contact and I could see the expression on her face become softer. She knew what I had to say was something important I wanted her to know.

"Case," I said blinking the tears away in my eyes a couple of times. "As you know, when I was younger I moved around all over the place with my parents. They were like my best friends. I didn't have anyone else until I met Evan at summer camp and even then we were only there a few months and then off on our next adventure. Cyprus Rhodes has given me the first stable home and family I have ever known. Things have been great these past four years. I finally found somewhere where I belong in this world. That's why I want to hold onto it as long as I can. To you Cyprus is just a place to be, you have Chicago to ultimately call your home. I just have wherever my parent's RV is parked. And now that they are splitting up, I have even less of a home to go to."

"Cap—" Casey began to say in a sympathetic voice.

"Please Case, I don't want your pity," I interrupted her. "I told you that because I wanted you to understand a little bit of where I was coming from. I didn't tell you it to feel sorry for me."

"I don't feel sorry for you," she replied. "I can understand where you are coming from but I'm just not sure how it changes anything. It still leaves us hanging when it comes to the future."

"What about my attempt to lavalier you?" I asked. "I think that showed that I am pretty committed to a future with you by giving you my letters."

Casey didn't respond which I thought was odd. I was sure she would have something to say about that. Instead she just looked down as her feet ran through the sand.

"Is it because you've been lavaliered two other times already?" I asked. "Is it not as special to you as it is me?"

"No, it's special to me," she defended herself. "I feel like I've waited almost four years for my dream to come true of you lavaliering me. My mind is just so stuck on going to Washington and law school and future careers that the moment just wasn't as special as I had dreamed of."

"Because you were losing faith in us?"

"No Cap, didn't you listen to me when were up on the pier? I said I wanted to move forward with you. You're the one who shouted that you weren't ready to move forward."

"Gosh I'm so confused Casey," I said standing up and beginning to pace a little bit. "It's like I'm juggling two different areas. A part of me wants to move forward with you. If I didn't feel that way then I never would have tried to lavalier you. But then a part of me wants to not move forward with life. I want to stay where I'm at and enjoy the stability I've had for the past four years."

"But Cap that just can't happen both ways," she stated. "You can't move forward with me without moving forward with your life."

I stopped pacing. I was staring out into the ocean with my back to Casey now. I was letting her words sink in. She was right and I hated the feeling of having to make a choice. There had to be a way to compromise somewhere in this situation so that the both of us were happy. I finally turned around to see Casey standing right behind me. At first I was surprised to see her so close to me. But then all I could think about was how much I wanted to just grab her and wrap my arms around her tightly and hold her until the world felt right again. But I held back those feelings because I knew it certainly wasn't the time. I felt like the two of us where making progress in listening to each other and really talking about things but no decision about the future had been made yet.

"I feel the opposite of you Cap," she said interrupting my thoughts and staring directly into my eyes.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I feel like I can't move forward with my life without you in it," she replied as a single tear escaped her eye and fell down her cheek.

God I wanted so bad to reach up and wipe that tear away and any other tear that came after that. I hate to see her cry, especially knowing it was me that was causing it. Instead I just stared back at her with a confused look on my face, hoping she would elaborate on what she just said.

"Fighting with you earlier tonight reminded me of the argument we had when we were studying for the women's studies midterm," she began. "That time I lost you as my friend and it was like the worst feeling ever. Or at least I thought it was." She paused, looked at the ground and then looked back up at me. "But watching you walk away from me up on the pier felt devastating to me. I'm not sure I can lose you again. I thought realizing we were a short story would help me get over the feelings I have for you. But losing you tonight has just shown me that maybe losing you is not an option."

Casey stepped a little closer to me and reached out with her hand and took mine. My first instinct was to draw back and not let her grab it. But that same crazy electrifying feeling I get every time she touches me was there and I didn't want to pull back. She squeezed my hand gently as we continued to stare at each other intently.

"So I guess both of us want different paths at the moment but the one thing we know for sure is that we want each other," I stated.

"I guess," she replied softly, never leaving her gaze right into my eyes.

"Are we back to the same question that started everything then?" I asked. "What's going to happen when you graduate? Where do we go from here?"

She didn't respond. The next thing I knew her body was pressed against mine and her head was buried in my shoulder. It took me a few seconds to realize what was happening. But once I did, I wrapped my arms around her so tightly. There was no way I was going to let go this time.

At this point we were both crying. There was an undeniable love between the two of us that I know we both felt. How could I ever doubt that I loved her? There was no fighting it anymore. The two of us are meant for each other. Mark my words, there will be the day where I'm standing at the end of the aisle in a snazzy tux watching her walk towards me in a beautiful white dress just minutes away from becoming my wife. There was no denying that my future was Casey. And hearing her tell me how much she feels she can't live without me just confirmed all the emotions and feelings in what I was going to say next.

I slowly let go of her and backed away so I could look into her eyes. It was then I got to reach my hands up and wipe the tears off of her eyes, something I had wanted to do from the moment that I saw her.

"Casey, you are my future," I said softly, my hands still cupped around the sides of her face. "And knowing how much I want to be with you makes me realize how much you are also my family, my stability. I can only stay at Kappa Tau so long and then I'm going to have to leave that home. But if the two of us can create a home together, I can start to call that place home instead."

"Cap, what are you trying to say?" she asked.

"There is no way I'm going to be able to graduate with you in a month," I said dropping my hands to rest loosely at the sides of her waist. "But what I can promise you is that when we get back to Cyprus I will sit down with you and fill out that declaration of a major form and turn it in. Once that is filled out I'll see how many more classes I have left to take. I can take summer classes and maybe finish up in the fall. Or maybe I'll have to stay at Cyprus for another whole year. But as soon as I do graduate I will move to Washington to be with you and we can start our lives and our future there together. I know it's not exactly what you dreamed of but—"

I wasn't able to finish my sentence. Casey interrupted me by grabbing my face with her hands and pressing her lips against mine. I could feel the wet tears continuing to stream down her face as I kissed her. But I was hoping that they were happy tears rather than the sorrowful ones she was showing several minutes before.

We finally broke away, our bodies still pressed against each other and our lips just inches apart. I reached up and brushed a strand of her hair off of her shoulder as we stared at each other in the eyes, reading each other's minds as to what we were feeling at the moment.

"So can I take that as a deal?" I asked with a smile, the first genuine smile I had on my face in the last two hours.

"Yes," she replied. "I understand you still have things that you have to clear up and deal with before graduation in a month. I never expected you to graduate at the same time as me Cap. All I wanted to hear from you was some sort of plan for the future. I wanted to know that you at least cared enough about us to want to have a plan and a career and experience the adult world."

"I do," I replied grabbing her hands into mine. "You are my top priority in life and I love you more than anything in the world. I'm sorry for the way I acted up on the pier. I wasn't listening to you and I was stupid for thinking you didn't have any faith in the two of us."

Casey smiled up at me. I smiled back as she leaned up and gave me a soft kiss on the lips. I was slightly disappointed when she backed away so quickly. She then let go of my hands and turned back and stood on top of the rock she had previously been sitting on.

"I think we should make a rule from now on that we should only walk underneath piers instead of walking on top of them," she said with a small laugh.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked as I stepped towards her.

"Well last spring break the two of us kissed underneath this same pier," she said. "And well, we both know what happened standing on this pier a couple of hours ago. But back here, underneath this same pier, we finally worked things out. So I say happy times under the pier, bad times on top of the pier."

"You're silly you know that?" I laughed as I reached my arms out towards her to help her step off of the rock.

"Nope, not yet," she said denying my advances. "I think there is something you have to give me first."

I looked up at her as the smile grew wider on my face.

"Are you sure?" I asked.

She just nodded her head. So I reached into my pocket and pulled out my Kappa Tau letters. For the second time that night I opened the box and looked up at her.

"Casey, I love you. Will you wear my lavalier?" I asked.

"Yes!" she exclaimed as she took me by surprise by jumping off the rock and into my arms. She had her arms wrapped tightly around my neck and her legs wrapped around my waist. It took me a second to catch my balance and wrap my own arms around her tightly holding her in place. I would never let her fall.

She then planted her lips onto mine once again as she ran her hands through my hair, kissing me passionately. The sparks were flying all around me and my heart was beating at a thousand beats per minute. Any fears or doubts I had about our relationship before were gone. Casey is my future and I was going to make sure I was never going to let her go again.

We finally broke away and I set her down in front of me. She lifted up her hair as I took the necklace out of the box. I laughed nervously as it was difficult to get the small clasp clipped around her neck. But I finally got it. She backed away and I just stared at my letters around her neck. I guess everything I thought earlier tonight was wrong. There is a Casey and Cappie after all. She is wearing my letters around her neck after all. And for the two of us, we're on a path to a future that the both of us can be happy with because we have each other. I guess in the end she did do it again. She broke my heart again. But instead of it being two years of pining and heartbreak, it was only a short two hours this time around. And I'll take two hours over another two years anytime.

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_**A/N: So what did you guys think? Hope you liked the ending! I think I've got another story idea up my sleeve that I may write in the next few weeks. This new one would be from Casey's point of view and a little more into the future. But for those of you who read Rainbows, don't worry, it will be updated very soon. I know I left you with a pretty bad cliffhanger! Give me a couple more days to finish writing the next chapter and it will be up :0) Hope you enjoyed this story!**_


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